Anarchy Works

151 Pages·2014·0.6 MB·English

Anarchy Works
Peter Gelderloos
2010
Contents
Introduction 7
AnarchyWouldNeverWork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Whatexactlyisanarchism? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Anoteoninspiration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Thetrickytopicofrepresentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
RecommendedReading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.HumanNature 12
Aren’tpeoplenaturallyselfish? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Aren’tpeoplenaturallycompetitive?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Haven’thumansalwaysbeenpatriarchal? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Aren’tpeoplenaturallywarlike? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Aren’tdominationandauthoritynatural? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Abroadersenseofself. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
RecommendedReading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.Decisions 31
Howwilldecisionsbemade? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Howwilldecisionsbeenforced? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Whowillsettledisputes? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Meetinginthestreets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
RecommendedReading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.Economy 46
Withoutwages,whatistheincentivetowork? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Don’tpeopleneedbossesandexperts? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Whowilltakeoutthetrash? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Whowilltakecareoftheelderlyanddisabled? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Howwillpeoplegethealthcare? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Whatabouteducation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Whatabouttechnology? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Howwillexchangework? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Whataboutpeoplewhodon’twanttogiveupaconsumeristlifestyle? . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Whataboutbuildingandorganizinglarge,spread-outinfrastructure? . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Howwillcitieswork? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Whataboutdrought,famine,orothercatastrophes? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Meetingourneedswithoutkeepingcount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
RecommendedReading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
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4.Environment 75
What’stostopsomeonefromdestroyingtheenvironment? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Whataboutglobalenvironmentalproblems,likeclimatechange? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Theonlywaytosavetheplanet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
RecommendedReading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
5.Crime 84
Whowillprotectuswithoutpolice? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Whataboutgangsandbullies? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
What’stostopsomeonefromkillingpeople? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Whataboutrape,domesticviolence,andotherformsofharm? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Beyondindividualjustice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
RecommendedReading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
6.Revolution 100
Howcouldpeopleorganizedhorizontallypossiblyovercomethestate? . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Howdoweknowrevolutionarieswon’tbecomenewauthorities? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Howwillcommunitiesdecidetoorganizethemselvesatfirst? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Howwillreparationsforpastoppressionsbeworkedout?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Howwillacommon,anti-authoritarian,ecologicalethoscomeabout? . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Arevolutionthatismanyrevolutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
RecommendedReading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
7.NeighboringSocieties 130
Couldananarchistsocietydefenditselffromanauthoritarianneighbor? . . . . . . . . . . 130
Whatwillwedoaboutsocietiesthatremainpatriarchalorracist? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Whatwillpreventconstantwarfareandfeuding? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Networksnotborders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
RecommendedReading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
8.TheFuture 139
Won’tthestatejustreemergeovertime? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Whataboutotherproblemswecan’tforesee? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
MakingAnarchyWork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
RecommendedReading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
ItWorksWhenWeMakeItWork 143
Bibliography 146
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Nomoretalkabouttheolddays,it’stimeforsomethinggreat.
Iwantyoutogetoutandmakeitwork…
ThomYorke
Dedicated to the wonderful people of RuinAmalia, La Revoltosa, and the Kyiv infoshop,
formakinganarchywork.
Althoughthisbookstartedoutasanindividualproject,intheendagreatmanypeople,
mostofwhomprefertoremainanonymous,helpedmakeitpossiblethroughproofread-
ing, fact-checking, recommending sources, editing, and more. To acknowledge only a
small part of this help, the author would like to thank John, Jose, Vila Kula, aaaa!, L,
J, and G for providing computer access throughout a year of moves, evictions, crashes,
viruses, and so forth. Thanks to Jessie Dodson and Katie Clark for helping with the re-
searchonanotherproject,thatIendedupusingforthisbook.AlsothankstoCandE,for
lendingtheirpasswordsforfreeaccesstothedatabasesofscholarlyarticlesavailableto
universitystudentsbutnottotherestofus.
*****
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Therearehiddenstoriesallaroundus,
growinginabandonedvillagesinthemountains
orvacantlotsinthecity,
petrifyingbeneathourfeetintheremains
ofsocietieslikenothingwe’veknown,
whisperingtousthatthingscouldbedifferent.
Butthepoliticianyouknowislyingtoyou,
themanagerwhohiresandfiresyou,
thelandlordwhoevictsyou,
thepresidentofthebankthatownsyourhouse,
theprofessorwhogradesyourpapers,
thecopwhorollsyourstreet,
thereporterwhoinformsyou,
thedoctorwhomedicatesyou,
thehusbandwhobeatsyou,
themotherwhospanksyou,
thesoldierwhokillsforyou,
andthesocialworkerwhofitsyourpastandfutureintoafolderinafilingcabinet
allask
“WHATWOULDYOUDOWITHOUTUS?
Itwouldbeanarchy.”
*****
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Andthedaughterwhorunsawayfromhome,
thebusdriveronthepicketline,
theveteranwhothrewbackhismedalbutholdsontohisrifle,
theboysavedfromsuicidebytheloveofhisfriends,
themaidwhomustbowtothosewhocan’tevencookforthemselves,
theimmigranthikingacrossadeserttofindherfamilyontheotherside,
the kid on his way to prison because he burned down a shopping mall they were building
overhischildhooddreams,
the neighbor who cleans up the syringes from the vacant lot, hoping someone will turn it
intoagarden,
thehitchhikerontheopenroad,
thecollegedropoutwhogaveuponcareerandhealthinsuranceandsometimesevenfoodso
hecouldwriterevolutionarypoetryfortheworld,
maybeallofuscanfeelit:
ourbossesandtormentorsareafraidofwhattheywoulddowithoutus,
andtheirthreatisapromise—
thebestpartsofourlivesareanarchyalready.
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Introduction
Anarchy Would Never Work
Anarchism is the boldest of revolutionary social movements to emerge from the struggle against
capitalism—itaimsforaworldfreefromallformsofdominationandexploitation.Butatitsheartisa
simpleandconvincingproposition:peopleknowhowtolivetheirownlivesandorganizethemselves
better than any expert could. Others cynically claim that people do not know what is in their best
interests,thattheyneedagovernmenttoprotectthem,thattheascensionofsomepoliticalpartycould
somehow secure the interests of all members of society. Anarchists counter that decision-making
shouldnotbecentralizedinthehandsofanygovernment,butinsteadpowershouldbedecentralized:
thatistosay,eachpersonshouldbethecenterofsociety,andallshouldbefreetobuildthenetworks
andassociationstheyneedtomeettheirneedsincommonwithothers.
Theeducationwereceiveinstate-runschoolsteachesustodoubtourabilitytoorganizeourselves.
Thisleadsmanytoconcludeanarchyisimpracticalandutopian:itwouldneverwork.Onthecontrary,
anarchist practice already has a long record, and has often worked quite well. The official history
bookstellaselectivestory,glossingoverthefactthatallthecomponentsofananarchistsocietyhave
existedatvarioustimes,andinnumerablestatelesssocietieshavethrivedformillennia.
How would an anarchist society compare to statist and capitalist societies? It is apparent that hi-
erarchical societies work well according to certain criteria. They tend to be extremely effective at
conqueringtheirneighborsandsecuringvastfortunesfortheirrulers.Ontheotherhand,asclimate
change, food and water shortages, market instability, and other global crises intensify, hierarchical
modelsarenotprovingtobeparticularlysustainable.Thehistoriesinthisbookshowthatananarchist
societycandomuchbetteratenablingall itsmemberstomeettheirneedsanddesires.
The many stories, past and present, that demonstrate how anarchy works have been suppressed
and distorted because of the revolutionary conclusions we might draw from them. We can live in a
societywithnobosses,masters,politicians,orbureaucrats;asocietywithnojudges,nopolice,andno
criminals,norichorpoor;asocietyfreeofsexism,homophobia,andtransphobia;asocietyinwhich
thewoundsfromcenturiesofenslavement,colonialism,andgenocidearefinallyallowedtoheal.The
onlythingsstoppingusaretheprisons,programming,andpaychecksofthepowerful,aswellasour
ownlackoffaithinourselves.
Of course, anarchists do not have to be practical to a fault. If we ever win the freedom to run our
own lives, we’ll probably come up with entirely new approaches to organization that improve on
thesetriedandtrueforms.Soletthesestoriesbeastartingpoint,andachallenge.
What exactly is anarchism?
Volumeshavebeenwritteninanswertothisquestion,andmillionsofpeoplehavededicatedtheir
livestocreating,expanding,defining,andfightingforanarchy.Therearecountlesspathstoanarchism
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and countless beginnings: workers in 19th century Europe fighting against capitalism and believing
inthemselvesinsteadoftheideologiesofauthoritarianpoliticalparties;indigenouspeoplesfighting
colonizationandreclaimingtheirtraditional,horizontalcultures;highschoolstudentswakingupto
the depth of their alienation and unhappiness; mystics from China one thousand years ago or from
Europe five hundred years ago, Daoists or Anabaptists, fighting against government and organized
religion; women rebelling against the authoritarianism and sexism of the Left. There is no Central
Committeegivingoutmembershipcards,andnostandarddoctrine.Anarchymeansdifferentthings
todifferentpeople.However,herearesomebasicprinciplesmostanarchistsagreeon.
Autonomy and Horizontality: All people deserve the freedom to define and organize themselves
ontheirownterms.Decision-makingstructuresshouldbehorizontalratherthanvertical,sonoone
dominatesanyoneelse;theyshouldfosterpowertoactfreelyratherthanpoweroverothers.Anarchism
opposesallcoercivehierarchies,includingcapitalism,thestate,whitesupremacy,andpatriarchy.
MutualAid:Peopleshouldhelponeanothervoluntarily;bondsofsolidarityandgenerosityforma
strongersocialgluethanthefearinspiredbylaws,borders,prisons,andarmies.Mutualaidisneithera
formofcharitynorofzero-sumexchange;bothgiverandreceiverareequalandinterchangeable.Since
neitherholdspowerovertheother,theyincreasetheircollectivepowerbycreatingopportunitiesto
worktogether.
Voluntary Association: People should be free to cooperate with whomever they want, however
theyseefit;likewise,theyshouldbefreetorefuseanyrelationshiporarrangementtheydonotjudge
tobeintheirinterest.Everyoneshouldbeabletomovefreely,bothphysicallyandsocially.Anarchists
opposebordersofallkindsandinvoluntarycategorizationbycitizenship,gender,orrace.
Direct Action: It is more empowering and effective to accomplish goals directly than to rely on
authoritiesorrepresentatives.Freepeopledonotrequestthechangestheywanttoseeintheworld;
theymakethosechanges.
Revolution:Today’sentrenchedsystemsofrepressioncannotbereformedaway.Thosewhohold
powerinahierarchicalsystemaretheoneswhoinstitutereforms,andtheygenerallydosoinways
that preserve or even amplify their power. Systems like capitalism and white supremacy are forms
ofwarfarewagedbyelites;anarchistrevolutionmeansfightingtooverthrowtheseelitesinorderto
createafreesociety.
Self-Liberation: “The liberation of the workers is the duty of the workers themselves,” as the old
slogangoes.Thisappliestoothergroupsaswell:peoplemustbeattheforefrontoftheirownliberation.
Freedomcannotbegiven;itmustbetaken.
A note on inspiration
Pluralism and freedom are not compatible with orthodox ideologies. The historical examples of
anarchy do not have to be explicitly anarchist. Most of the societies and organizations that have
successfully lived free of government have not called themselves “anarchist”; that term originated
in Europe in the 19th century, and anarchism as a self-conscious social movement is not nearly as
universalasthedesireforfreedom.
Itispresumptuoustoassignthelabel“anarchist”topeoplewhohavenotchosenit;instead,wecan
usearangeofothertermstodescribeexamplesofanarchyinpractice.“Anarchy”isasocialsituation
freeofgovernmentandcoercivehierarchiesheldtogetherbyself-organizedhorizontalrelationships;
“anarchists”arepeoplewhoidentifythemselveswiththesocialmovementorphilosophyofanarchism.
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Anti-authoritarians are people who expressly want to live in a society without coercive hierarchies,
but do not, to the best of our knowledge, identify as anarchists — either because the term was not
availabletothemorbecausetheydonotseethespecificallyanarchistmovementasrelevanttotheir
world.Afterall,theanarchistmovementassuchemergedfromEuropeanditinheritedaworldview
inaccordancewiththisbackground;meanwhiletherearemanyotherstrugglesagainstauthoritythat
springfromdifferentworldviewsandhavenoneedtocallthemselves“anarchist.”Asocietythatexists
without a state, but does not identify itself as anarchist, is “stateless”; if that society is not stateless
by chance, but consciously works to prevent the emergence of hierarchies and identifies with its
egalitariancharacteristics,onemightdescribeitas“anarchistic.”1
Theexamplesinthisbookhavebeenselectedfromawiderangeoftimesandplaces—aboutninety
altogether. Thirty are explicitly anarchist; the rest are all stateless, autonomous, or consciously anti-
authoritarian.Morethanhalfoftheexamplesarefrompresent-dayWesternsociety,athirdaredrawn
from stateless societies that provide a view of the breadth of human possibility outside of Western
civilization,andtheremainingfewareclassicalhistoricalexamples.Someofthese,suchastheSpanish
CivilWar,arecitedmultipletimesbecausetheyarewelldocumentedandofferawealthofinformation.
The number of examples included makes it impossible to explore each one in the detail it deserves.
Ideallythereaderwillbeinspiredtopursuethesequestionsherself,distillingfurtherpracticallessons
fromtheattemptsofthosewhocamebefore.
It will become apparent throughout this book that anarchy exists in conflict with the state and
capitalism.Manyoftheexamplesgivenherewereultimatelycrushedbypoliceorconqueringarmies,
anditisinlargepartduetothissystematicrepressionofalternativesthattherehavenotbeenmore
examplesofanarchyworking.Thisbloodyhistoryimpliesthat,tobethoroughgoingandsuccessful,an
anarchistrevolutionwouldhavetobeglobal.Capitalismisaglobalsystem,constantlyexpandingand
colonizingeveryautonomoussocietyitencounters.Inthelongrun,noonecommunityorcountrycan
remain anarchist while the rest of the world is capitalist. An anti-capitalist revolution must destroy
capitalism totally, or else be destroyed. This does not mean that anarchism must be a single global
system.Manydifferentformsofanarchistsocietycouldcoexist,andtheseinturncouldcoexistwith
societies that were not anarchist, so long as the latter were not confrontationally authoritarian or
oppressive. The following pages will show the great diversity of forms anarchy and autonomy can
take.
Theexamplesinthisbookshowanarchyworkingforaperiodoftime,orsucceedinginaspecific
way. Until capitalism is abolished, all such examples will necessarily be partial. These examples are
instructiveintheirweaknessesaswellastheirstrengths.Inadditiontoprovidingapictureofpeople
creatingcommunitiesandmeetingtheirneedswithoutbosses,theyraisethequestionofwhatwent
wrongandhowwecoulddobetternexttime.
To this end, here are some recurring themes that may be beneficial to reflect on in the course of
readingthisbook:
Isolation:Manyanarchistprojectsworkquitewell,butonlymakeanimpactinthelivesofatiny
numberofpeople.Whatengendersthisisolation?Whattendstocontributetoit,andwhatcanoffset
it?
1SamMbahandI.E.IgariwaywritethatbeforecolonialcontactnearlyalltraditionalAfricansocietieswere“anarchies,”
andtheymakeastrongargumenttothiseffect.Thesamecouldalsobesaidofothercontinents.Butastheauthordoes
notcomefromanyofthesesocieties,andsinceWesternculturetraditionallybelievesithastherighttorepresentother
societiesinself-servingways,itisbesttoavoidsuchbroadcharacterizations,whilestillendeavoringtolearnfromthese
examples.
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Alliances: In a number of examples, anarchists and other anti-authoritarians were betrayed by
supposed allies who sabotaged the possibility of liberation in order to gain power for themselves.
Why did anarchists choose these alliances, and what can we learn about what kind of alliances to
maketoday?
Repression:Autonomouscommunitiesandrevolutionaryactivitieshavebeenstoppedcoldbypo-
lice repression or military invasion time after time. People are intimidated, arrested, tortured, and
killed,andthesurvivorsmustgointohidingordropoutofthestruggle;communitiesthathadonce
providedsupportwithdrawinordertoprotectthemselves.Whatactions,strategies,andformsofor-
ganization best equip people to survive repression? How can those on the outside provide effective
solidarity?
Collaboration:Somesocialmovementsorradicalprojectschoosetoparticipateinoraccommodate
themselvestoaspectsofthepresentsysteminordertoovercomeisolation,beaccessibletoagreater
rangeofpeople,oravoidrepression.Whataretheadvantagesandpitfallsofthisapproach?Arethere
waystoovercomeisolationoravoidrepressionwithoutit?
Temporarygain:Manyoftheexamplesinthisbooknolongerexist.Ofcourse,anarchistsarenot
tryingtocreatepermanentinstitutionsthattakeonlivesoftheirown;specificorganizationsshould
cometoanendwhentheyarenolongerhelpful.Realizingthat,howcanwemakethemostofbubbles
of autonomy while they last, and how can they continue to inform us after they have ceased to be?
How can a series of temporary spaces and events be linked to create a continuity of struggle and
community?
The tricky topic of representation
Inasmanycasesaswaspossible,wesoughtdirectfeedbackfrompeoplewithpersonalexperience
in the struggles and communities described in this book. With some examples this was impossible,
due to unnavigable chasms of distance or time. In these cases we had to rely exclusively on written
representations, generally recorded by outside observers. But representation is not at all a neutral
process,andoutsideobserversprojecttheirownvaluesandexperiencesontowhattheyareobserving.
Ofcourse,representationisaninevitableactivityinhumandiscourse,andmoreoveroutsideobservers
cancontributenewandusefulperspectives.
However,ourworldisnotthatsimple.AsEuropeancivilizationspreadanddominatedtherestof
the planet, the observers it sent out were generally the surveyors, missionaries, writers, and scien-
tistsoftherulingorder.Onaworldscale,thiscivilizationistheonlyonewiththerighttointerpret
itselfandallothercultures.Westernsystemsofthoughtwereforciblyspreadaroundtheworld.Col-
onizedsocietieswerecutupandexploitedasslavelabor,economicresources,andideologicalcapital.
Non-Western peoples were represented back to the West in ways that would confirm the Western
worldview and sense of superiority, and justify the ongoing imperial project as necessary for the
goodofthepeoplesbeingforciblycivilized.
As anarchists trying to abolish the power structure responsible for colonialism and many other
wrongs, we want to approach these other cultures in good faith, in order to learn from them, but if
we’re not careful we could easily fall into the accustomed eurocentric pattern of manipulating and
exploiting these other cultures for our own ideological capital. In cases where wecould find no one
from the community in question to review and criticize our own interpretations, we have tried to
situate the storyteller in the telling, to subvert his or her objectivity and invisibility, to deliberately
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